Nexus of Fate vs Teferi Stalemate

Asked by chosenone124 5 years ago

My opponent is playing UW control. He manages to exile all of my lands and is using Teferi, Hero of Dominaria every turn to avoid decking out.

However, I have Nexus of Fate in my deck and discard it to hand size every turn to avoid decking out.

Is the game a draw, or is one of us obligated to stop putting things on our deck?

FLATSO99 says... #1

The game would be considered a stalemate if neither player could break the loop or there were other cards in play that allowed one player to win in another way.

October 26, 2018 6:21 p.m.

...how could Teferi, Hero of Dominaria let one keep from decking out?

October 26, 2018 10:12 p.m.

chosenone124 says... #3

ClockworkSwordfish Unfortunately, Teferi can minus targetting himself. As you can imagine, this is not pleasant to experience facing him

October 27, 2018 5:21 a.m.

Good heavens, I didn't even consider that. That is truly degenerate behaviour.

October 27, 2018 1:54 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #5

According to a recent "[O]fficial" judge ruling, your opponent will lose the game if they don't have any other way to make you lose. They're taking an action to continue the loop, but you're just following game rules. Your opponent can't keep the loop going forever and is required to make a different choice at some point. Here's the full quote from L3 Scott Marshall (I can't link to the original because it's in a forum restricted to current/former judges and judge candidates):

The Teferi player eventually (i.e., before Slow Play applies) has to choose to lose this game.

This loop includes the Teferi player taking an action; they can choose to take a different action. The Nexus player is simply doing what the game rules instruct them to do - yes, they're choosing which card to discard, but it's not a game action they're taking, it's following the rules of the game.

It's an odd outcome, and if someone rules this as a draw, there's no one in Policyland that's going to yell at them, or even say they're "wrong" - but if it comes up, and you're paying attention now, you'll know what to do.

That last part indicates that there may be judges out there who are unaware of this ruling and will rule the game a draw but they'll be justified in thinking that's the right way to handle it. If you get into this situation during a sanctioned event, remember that the head judge's decision is final.

October 29, 2018 11:20 a.m.

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